The truth about nappy hair is that it is A LOT of hardwork maintaining it, but so worth it in the end. Growing up, my hair was natural and I hated it! It was hard coarse, thick, long and annoying. I didn’t know what to do with it, so I just ignored it. There were no blogs to read or vlogs to watch, to educate us on what to with our kinky hair. And there was hardly anyone around me with a natural hair too.

I cut my hair very short a number of times whilst growing up. It was easier to manage the nappy hair once it was short.

Some of the lucky ones are blessed with soft manageable hair, like my daughter. Her hair is so beautiful. It is soft and curly, and a lot more easier to manage than mine. People like me with the very coarse hair have to struggle to manage our natural hair, and when we can struggle no more, we texturise the damn thing! Back in the day, texturizing/relaxing the hair was the only way to manage it. If only I knew then what I know now, I would have kept my hair free of chemicals.

My hair has been chemical free for over 2 years now; the struggle has been real, but I won’t have it any other way. The reason I decided to stop using relaxers/texturisers on my hair was because my hair became extremely unhealthy and I needed to bring it back to life.

I like the way my hair is looking now, there is no more hair breakage and my hair is the healthiest I have seen in ages, but it comes with a lot of work.

The hair products I use can be expensive and my hair routine can be exhausting sometimes but I try to keep it simple. I have reviewed most of the hair products I use, so have a look at the review posts if you missed any of them.

If you are contemplating going your hair natural, I would advise you to go for. It is the best thing I ever did for my hair, and I am 99% certain you won’t regret it as long as you are happy and ready to put in the work. If you are not ready to dedicate the time and money, wait until you can.

Another thing I have noticed about the natural afro hair community is that it seems to be the norm to have a big chop. I didn’t have a big chop because I didn’t want the crop hair look and my nappy hair grew out just fine. It did take a while to fully transition but I got there in the end, so please don’t think you must have the big chop.

Are you rocking the nappy hair? How are you finding it? Please share your tips or secrets in the comments section.

I have always wondered what the issue was with people and wigs. There seems to be this idealogy that wigs are meant for only those who are suffering from a hair loss, and elderly people, and should not be a beauty item, but I strongly disagree.

Growing up, I was never a fan of wigs. They all looked similar and looked like WIGS, and I found them very unattractive. But nowadays, with the new generation wigs, I have fallen madly in love with them, and I have been a devout wearer for many years now. I have a lovely lady who makes majority of my wigs, and she is the real deal. I also got a few from some fabulous retailers.

The last time I had a weave (hair extensions attached to my hair) on was January 2016, and I have not missed them. Since I gave up using chemicals on my hair and having weaves installed, my hair has been in the best shape ever. It is healthy and growing like weed!

I gave up on wearing weaves because I needed my natural hair to breath, it was badly damaged and the only way I could give my hair the attention it was badly in need of, was to not have hair extensions attached to it.

The joy of wearing wigs is the ability to yank it off whenever I need to, or not to have it on if I don’t need/want to; it is also one of the best feelings in the world to sleep weave/wig free. For someone who has a very itchy scalp (anyone who knows me well enough can testify to this, and no, I don’t have dandruff or head lice, just a natural itchy scalp for whatever reason), wearing a wig means I don’t have to deal with the itch half as much as I used to when I had weaves on.

Wearing wigs also means I can change my look as often as I like. I have a few wigs in my collection, and I am looking to getting a few more in other styles this year.

Many people struggle to understand why any woman with good hair on her head would want to wear wigs instead. I see it in a different way. Wigs give me the opportunity to switch up my look, from the comfort of my home, whenever I feel like it. Wigs allow me sleep free and be free. Wigs allow me take care of my natural hair (this is a big one for me) the way it needs me to. And once my natural hair gets to the length I want it to, I can see myself wearing less of wigs, but for now, I am loving them.

What are your thoughts on wigs? Do you wear them? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

It all starts with a dissatisfaction of our natural hair. Every time you look in the mirror, you wish that your natural hair was better. And in the pursuit of having the perfect hair, we apply all sorts of products to get our hair looking the way we think we want it to.

Relaxers, texturizers, hair sprays and even some hair creams could be extremely harmful to your hair. On the surface, those products seem to give the results that you have been looking for but at the expense of the health of your hair. They contain several harsh chemicals like sodium hydroxide (lye), calcium hydroxide or guanidine hydroxide (no-lye), and hydrogen peroxide to get your hair to behave in the nature and style that you desire. But leaves the health of your hair in a very bad state.

These chemicals can be so harsh for our delicate hair because they negatively affect the pH level of the hair. The continuous application of these harmful hair products would continue to destroy the hair.

Here are some of the reasons why chemicals are bad for your hair.

Chemicals will stunt hair growth

Our hair needs the right environment, pH level and moisture to grow. Using these harsh chemical in your hair products, especially relaxers and texturizers, go deep into the scalp. It strips the hair of its moisture.

The worse part about chemicals most especially the ones in hair relaxers is that the chemicals used to relax the hair also inhibit its growth.

Chemicals will thin your hair

The continuous application of perms, relaxers, texturizers and other chemical-based hair products will wear our hair out. At each application, the chemicals start to weaken the hair strands and most times it leads to having split ends. When you apply a relaxer, the part that suffers the most is your natural hairline. The front of your hair gets so thin that it could start to break which could damage the hair-line severally.

Chemicals will lead to breakage and hair loss

These chemicals can also lead to overall hair breakage and loss. The chemicals in hair products can make your hair lose its elasticity which will make your hair fragile and cause it to break.

Chemicals can burn your scalp

Ladies believe that when they leave a relaxer or texturizer longer in their hair, they’ll get better results. Especially if they have very coarse hair like me (I have a 4c type hair). The truth is that the longer you leave those products in your hair, the more your scalp burns. This will cause serious pain from the burn or irritation. The pain gets worse when hair products that contain alcohol are applied to your hair.

With all these problems, the best decision you could ever make is to go natural and stay natural. I have not applied any form of chemical on my hair for over a year now and I can’t remember the last time my hair was this healthy.

My hair is full, strong and growing quickly and beautifully. I must confess, the journey to falling in love with my natural afro hair has been long and hard. It took seeing how lovely my daughter’s natural hair is, to get me to transition to natural hair. But I am happy I have finally embraced it. It is very difficult to maintain my natural hair. It is quite dry and does not retain moisture easily, so I like to have it in a protective style for as long as possible, and rock my fancy wigs. But as soon as my hair grows to the desired length I am after, I would start to style it a bit more.

What do you think of these harsh chemicals in hair products?

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HEY

Thanks for visiting Fashion and Style Police. My name is Stella, a 30 something year old from Cheshire.I am the author of 'How To Cash In as a Blogger', Freelance Writer and Social Media Manager, Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Blogger. I also manage Blogger Outreach campaigns for various clients. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them.
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